Croatia football fans arrested after street clash in Paris

French police arrested fans of Croatia’s Dinamo Zagreb football team in a Paris hotel on Tuesday, ahead of a match against Paris Saint Germain. The French Interior Ministry had previously imposed a travel ban on Dinamo fans. 

Reuters/Jean-Paul Pelissier

The arrests come after street fights broke out between supporters of the two teams Monday night, on the eve of the Champions' League game. Twenty-four people were arrested as a result of the clashes, leaving one Croat supporter seriously injured, according to police.

France’s Interior Minister Manual Valls pre-emptively imposed a travel ban on Dinamo fans on Sunday, in anticipation of problems. He said there was a real possibility of “serious incidents occurring, should fans from both sides come across each other.”

Additionally, Valls said he was informed by Croatian authorities that up to 200 supporters from a gang called the “Blue Bad Boys” would be travelling to France but did not have tickets to the match.

The ban forbids any Dimano supporter from travelling to the French border and the capital Paris, either individually or as a group, from 5 to 7 November.

The game between France’s Paris Saint Germain and Croatia’s Dimano Zagreb kicks off Tuesday at 8:45 p.m.